By IINA,
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has urged imams to use a soft approach to attract young Muslims to mosques, adding that mosques should play a bigger social role, The Star daily reported yesterday. “Show love and tell them that Allah loves them and accept repentance,” Abdullah told conference for imams at the Federal Territory Mosque in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. “Don’t start with anger.” The third Mosque Imam Multaqa was held under the theme of “Community disunity threatens national security”.
Abdullah Badawi advised imams to use a softer rather than a harsh approach that turns the youngsters off by always focusing on punishment. “Why not start from a point of love and compassion and try and understand their problems and get to the bottom of why they are feeling in such a way?”
Badawi insisted that mosque should not only attract old people while the young stay away.
He said imam must observe good conduct because the people look up to them. “I want them to use their positions well and be the ones that the young people come to seek advice from when they are faced with problems, be it personal or otherwise.”
The prime minister warned against dividing mosques and congregations along political affiliations. “We want the Muslims, regardless of their political ideology, be it Umno, PAS, or PKR, to come to the mosques and be respectful to one another,” he said, referring to the ruling and opposition parties. “We do not want a situation where people think this is ‘their mosque’ and that is ‘our mosque,'” stressed the prime minister. “We want people to feel comfortable in all mosques.”
The prime minister also called for adopting a new approach to boost the social role played by mosques. “People should want to go there because it gives them a sense of calmness and peace of mind. “There must be efforts to make the mosque multi-functional.” Islam is the official religion in Malaysia where Muslim Malays make up nearly 60 percent of the country’s 26 million people.